The Mailbox, Birmingham

The Mailbox, a mixed-use development beside the Worcester and Birmingham Canal, gets its name from the Royal Mail sorting office that once occupied the site. The sorting office opened in 1970, replacing Birmingham's Victorian Head Post Office on Victoria Square. The surviving part of that older building is now known as Victoria Square House.

A public square was created in front of the Mailbox beneath Suffolk Street Queensway. The square was paved with natural stone and designed to serve as both a social area and a thoroughfare to and around the building. At the rear of the Mailbox, a walkway and bridge lead to the canal towpaths near Gas Street Basin. The Cube, a neighboring mixed-use building, contains a hotel, apartments, and a rooftop restaurant.

The Mailbox development comprises about 689,000 square feet of primarily office space, together with retail and leisure facilities, on a 4.8-acre canalside site. Prominent occupiers include BBC Birmingham, WSP, Associated Architects, Harvey Nichols, Malmaison, and numerous stores and restaurants. The Mailbox is about 980 feet long from front to back, including The Cube.